Kickstarter Basics

Kickstarter Basics:
Kickstarter 101

Kickstarter PBC is a funding platform for creative projects. Everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. Kickstarter is full of ambitious, innovative, and imaginative ideas that are brought to life through the direct support of others.

Everything on Kickstarter must be a project with a clear goal, like making an album, a book, or a work of art. A project will eventually be completed, and something will be produced by it.

A project is a finite work with a clear goal that you’d like to bring to life. Think albums, books, or films.

The funding goal is the amount of money that a creator needs to complete their project.

Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing. No one will be charged for a pledge towards a project unless it reaches its funding goal. This way, creators always have the budget they scoped out before moving forward.

A creator is the person or team behind the project idea, working to bring it to life.

Backers are folks who pledge money to join creators in bringing projects to life.

Rewards are a creator's chance to share a piece of their project with their backer community. Typically, these are one-of-a-kind experiences, limited editions, or copies of the creative work being produced.

If you want to know more about how it works, try browsing around and looking at some of the projects on the site — you can start right here. If you’re curious about starting a project, our Creator Handbook can give you a great overview.

Many backers are rallying around their friends' projects. Some are supporting a new effort from someone they've long admired. Some are just inspired by a new idea, while others are motivated to pledge by a project's rewards — a copy of what's being produced, a limited edition, or a custom experience related to the project.

Backing a project is more than just pledging funds to a creator. It's pledging your support to a creative idea that you want to see exist in the world.

The majority of initial funding usually comes from the fans and friends of each project. If they like it, they'll spread the word to their friends, and so on. Press, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and Kickstarter itself are also big sources of traffic and pledges. Altogether, millions of people visit Kickstarter every week.

Backers that support a project on Kickstarter get an inside look at the creative process, and help that project come to life. They also get to choose from a variety of unique rewards offered by the project creator. Rewards vary from project to project, but often include a copy of what is being produced (CD, DVD, book, etc.) or an experience unique to the project.

Project creators keep 100% ownership of their work, and Kickstarter cannot be used to offer equity, financial returns, or to solicit loans.

If a project is successfully funded, Kickstarter applies a 5% fee to the funds collected for creators. Stripe, our payments processor will also apply payment processing fees (roughly 3-5%). The complete fee breakdowns are available here.

We are an independent company based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We spend our time improving the site, answering questions from backers and creators, and finding great new projects to share with you. Every day is an adventure — we get to experience projects as they happen! Say hello or come work with us!

Kickstarter Basics:
Accountability

It's the project creator's responsibility to complete their project. Kickstarter is not involved in the development of the projects themselves.

Kickstarter does not guarantee projects or investigate a creator's ability to complete their project. On Kickstarter, backers (you!) ultimately decide the validity and worthiness of a project by whether they decide to fund it.

Launching a Kickstarter is a very public act, and creators put their reputations at risk when they do.

Backers should look for creators who share a clear plan for how their project will be completed, and who have a history of bringing their creative ventures and other projects to fruition. Creators are encouraged to share links and as much background information as possible so backers can make informed decisions about the projects they support.

If a creator has no demonstrable experience in doing something like their project or doesn't share key information, backers should take that into consideration. Does the creator include links to any websites that show work related to the project, or past projects? Does the creator appear in the video? Have they connected via Facebook?

Don't hesitate to request information from a creator. You can always reach out before pledging via the "Contact me" button on the project page.

Perhaps you are friends with the creator, or you heard about the project from a trusted source.

Looking for more information? Read through the description and watch the video to get a better sense of the person or team behind the project.

In the creator bio section of each project, you can find additional resources, like links to websites, relevant background information, and in some cases, a connected Facebook account. For projects that have launched since May 19, 2014, you'll also find a verified name with a check mark next to it. This person is the creator of the project or a part of the company or team behind it, and they verified their identity through an automated process.

If problems come up, creators are expected to post a project update explaining the situation. Sharing the story, speed bumps and all, is crucial. Most backers support projects because they want to see something happen and they'd like to be a part of it. Creators who are honest and transparent will usually find backers to be understanding.

It's not uncommon for things to take longer than expected. Sometimes the execution of the project proves more difficult than the creator had anticipated. If a creator is making a good faith effort to complete their project and is transparent about it, backers should do their best to be patient and understanding while demanding continued accountability from the creator.

If the problems are severe enough that the creator can't fulfill their project, creators need to find a resolution. Steps should include offering refunds, detailing exactly how funds were used, and other actions to satisfy backers. For more information, see Section 4 of our Terms of Use.

For projects that launched before October 19, 2014, please see our previous Terms of Use.

When a project is successfully funded, the creator is responsible for completing the project and fulfilling each reward. Their fundamental obligation to backers is to finish all the work that was promised. Once a creator has done so, they’ve fulfilled their obligation to their backers.

At the same time, backers must understand that Kickstarter is not a store. When you back a project, you’re helping to create something new — not ordering something that already exists. There’s a chance something could happen that prevents the creator from being able to finish the project as promised. If a creator is absolutely unable to complete the project and fulfill rewards, they must make every reasonable effort to find another way of bringing the project to a satisfying conclusion for their backers. For more information, see Section 4 of our Terms of Use.

We started Kickstarter as a new way for creators and audiences to work together to make things. Many traditional funding systems are risk-averse and profit-focused, and tons of great ideas never get a chance. Kickstarter opens the door to a world full of creative possibilities, one where anyone can help decide which bright idea will become tomorrow's reality.

Kickstarter is full of ambitious, innovative, and imaginative ideas. Many of the projects you see on Kickstarter are in earlier stages of development and are looking for a community to bring them to life. That Kickstarter allows creators to take risks and attempt to create new things is a feature, not a bug.

We have a dedicated Integrity team that monitors the system for suspicious activity. This team screens reports that are sent to us by our community and they take action if they find something that does not align with our rules.

It's important to remember that Kickstarter is built on an all-or-nothing funding system. No one is charged until a project meets its funding goal and the funding period ends. This gives backers time to fully evaluate a project, and it also gives our Integrity team some time to look into any concerns raised by backers.

Kickstarter Basics:
Getting involved

Just head to our start page to begin building your project. You can find tips on structuring and running your project in our Creator Handbook and Resources Compendium, and refer to our rules to make sure your project idea is a good fit. Meanwhile, feel free to save your project as a draft and return to finish it up or submit it for review at a later date.

Have questions that weren't answered here? Head to our Creator and Backer FAQ sections. If you're a member of the press looking to reach Kickstarter, you can visit the Pressroom for lots of great resources.

If you have any questions on a more specific issue, you can also reach out to our Community Support team here.

On occasion, Kickstarter will partner with organizations, cultural institutions, or other entities that are aligned with our creative interests. If you'd like to explore that sort of partnership, you can reach us at partnerships@kickstarter.com. We'll follow up if it feels like a good fit!

Please note that Kickstarter is not undertaking any sponsorship opportunities at this time.

If you receive any messages that appear to be spam or outside of our guidelines, please mark them as spam to flag them for our team. Creators can also mark comments as spam.

While we're not able to respond to each individual report, we do have a dedicated team that investigates every report that we receive. We appreciate you bringing anything out of the ordinary to our attention!

If you're not sure whether material on Kickstarter infringes your copyright, please talk with a lawyer before filing a complaint with us. Misrepresenting that material infringes your copyright may subject you to liability for damages, including attorneys' fees and costs incurred by project creators or other parties.

If you've spoken with a lawyer and think your material is being infringed, try contacting the project creator directly using the "Contact me" button on the project page. If that doesn't work, you can submit a complaint using this form.

If you believe a Kickstarter project is infringing on a trademark you hold, you can report a trademark violation by emailing copyright@kickstarter.com. We'll evaluate and respond to every report we receive.

Please review our Trademark Policy for more information about what details to include in your report.

To manage your mobile notifications, select the "Me" icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the app and tap "Settings." From this page, you'll be able to manage your mobile and email notification preferences. If the mail or mobile icon for a certain category is green, that means that you have notifications turned on.

It's not currently possible to edit your profile from the Kickstarter app.

If you wish to make any changes to your profile, including your profile name, email address, profile picture, biography, location, and website, you can do so from any compatible web browser. Just head to your profile settings.